In this guide
The national movement is the richest single topic in CDS history. It suits UPSC's favourite formats well: chronological ordering ("arrange these events"), matching (session and president, leader and organisation), and statements about what a movement did or did not include. A defence candidate should also know the military side well: the INA, the INA trials and the naval ratings' revolt of 1946.
The phases
| Phase | Approach | Leaders |
|---|---|---|
| Moderates (1885–1905) | Petitions, speeches and resolutions; faith in British justice; economic critique of colonial rule | Dadabhai Naoroji, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Pherozeshah Mehta, Surendranath Banerjee |
| Extremists or assertive nationalists (1905–1918) | Swadeshi, boycott, national education; swaraj as a right | Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Lala Lajpat Rai, Bipin Chandra Pal, Aurobindo Ghosh |
| Gandhian (1917–1947) | Mass satyagraha based on non-violence | Gandhi, Nehru, Patel, Rajendra Prasad, Azad and many others |
Dadabhai Naoroji set out the drain theory, the argument that Britain drained India's wealth, in Poverty and Un-British Rule in India. Before the Congress, associations such as the Indian Association (1876, Surendranath Banerjee and Ananda Mohan Bose) had prepared the ground.
Congress sessions worth knowing
The Indian National Congress was founded in December 1885 at Bombay, with A. O. Hume as a moving spirit and W. C. Bonnerjee as its first president.
| Year | Place | President | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1885 | Bombay | W. C. Bonnerjee | First session |
| 1887 | Madras | Badruddin Tyabji | First Muslim president |
| 1906 | Calcutta | Dadabhai Naoroji | "Swaraj" declared the goal |
| 1907 | Surat | Rash Behari Ghosh | Split between moderates and extremists |
| 1916 | Lucknow | A. C. Mazumdar | Moderates and extremists reunited; Lucknow Pact with the Muslim League |
| 1917 | Calcutta | Annie Besant | First woman president |
| 1924 | Belgaum | M. K. Gandhi | The only session Gandhi presided over |
| 1925 | Kanpur | Sarojini Naidu | First Indian woman president |
| 1929 | Lahore | Jawaharlal Nehru | Purna Swaraj resolution |
| 1931 | Karachi | Vallabhbhai Patel | Resolution on Fundamental Rights and economic programme |
| 1938 | Haripura | Subhas Chandra Bose | Bose elected president |
| 1939 | Tripuri | Subhas Chandra Bose | Bose re-elected, then resigned after differences with Gandhi |
Key events, 1905–1947
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1905 | Partition of Bengal under Curzon; Swadeshi and boycott movement |
| 1906 | All-India Muslim League founded at Dhaka |
| 1911 | Partition annulled |
| 1913 | Ghadar Party formed in the USA (Lala Har Dayal among its leaders) |
| 1915 | Gandhi returns from South Africa |
| 1916 | Home Rule Leagues: Tilak (April, Belgaum) and Annie Besant (September, Madras); Lucknow Pact |
| 1917 | Champaran satyagraha (indigo planters) |
| 1918 | Ahmedabad mill strike; Kheda satyagraha |
| 1919 | Rowlatt Act; Jallianwala Bagh massacre, Amritsar (13 April) |
| 1920 | Non-Cooperation and Khilafat movements launched |
| 1922 | Chauri Chaura (5 February); Non-Cooperation withdrawn |
| 1923 | Swaraj Party formed by C. R. Das and Motilal Nehru |
| 1928 | Simon Commission boycotted; Lala Lajpat Rai fatally injured in a lathi charge at Lahore; Bardoli satyagraha under Patel |
| 1929 | Lahore session: Purna Swaraj |
| 1930 | Dandi March (12 March to 6 April); Civil Disobedience; First Round Table Conference |
| 1931 | Gandhi–Irwin Pact; Gandhi attends the Second Round Table Conference |
| 1932 | Communal Award; Poona Pact between Gandhi and Ambedkar |
| 1935 | Government of India Act |
| 1937 | Provincial elections; Congress ministries formed |
| 1939 | Congress ministries resign over India's entry into the war |
| 1940 | August Offer; individual satyagraha (Vinoba Bhave the first satyagrahi); Muslim League's Lahore Resolution |
| 1942 | Cripps Mission (March); Quit India (8 August), "Do or Die" |
| 1945 | Simla Conference; INA trials at the Red Fort |
| 1946 | Royal Indian Navy ratings' revolt, Bombay (February); Cabinet Mission; Interim Government |
| 1947 | Mountbatten Plan (3 June); Indian Independence Act; independence and partition |
The three Gandhian mass movements compared
| Point | Non-Cooperation (1920–22) | Civil Disobedience (1930–34) | Quit India (1942) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trigger | Rowlatt Act, Jallianwala Bagh, Khilafat issue | Rejection of Dominion Status demand; Purna Swaraj | Failure of the Cripps Mission; wartime crisis |
| Method | Boycott of titles, councils, courts, schools, foreign cloth | Breaking laws, starting with the salt law | Open mass revolt, "Do or Die" |
| Notable feature | Hindu–Muslim unity with the Khilafat movement | Large participation of women; salt satyagraha on the coasts | Leaders arrested at once; parallel governments at Ballia, Tamluk and Satara |
| How it ended | Withdrawn after Chauri Chaura | Suspended after the Gandhi–Irwin Pact, resumed, then withdrawn in 1934 | Crushed by force; leaders released later |
Revolutionaries
| Event | Year | People |
|---|---|---|
| Alipore bomb case | 1908 | Khudiram Bose executed; Aurobindo Ghosh acquitted |
| Kakori train action | 1925 | Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan, Rajendra Lahiri, Roshan Singh (HRA) |
| Hindustan Socialist Republican Association | 1928 | Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad, Sukhdev |
| Saunders shooting, Lahore | 1928 | Bhagat Singh and Rajguru, avenging Lajpat Rai |
| Central Legislative Assembly bomb | 1929 | Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt |
| Chittagong armoury raid | 1930 | Surya Sen |
| Execution of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Sukhdev | 23 March 1931 | Lahore |
| Michael O'Dwyer shot in London | 1940 | Udham Singh |
The INA
The Indian National Army was first raised in 1942 under Mohan Singh, from Indian prisoners of war, with Japanese support. Subhas Chandra Bose took charge in 1943 in Singapore and set up the Provisional Government of Azad Hind on 21 October 1943. His calls were "Delhi Chalo" and "Give me blood, and I will give you freedom". The Rani of Jhansi Regiment was a women's unit under Lakshmi Swaminathan (later Lakshmi Sahgal).
The INA's campaign in the Imphal–Kohima sector failed, but the Red Fort trials of INA officers in 1945–46 stirred the country. With the naval ratings' revolt of February 1946, they showed the British that the loyalty of Indian armed forces could no longer be assumed.
Practice MCQs
- The Congress split at the session of (a) Calcutta 1906 (b) Surat 1907 (c) Lucknow 1916 (d) Lahore 1929
- The first woman president of the Congress was (a) Sarojini Naidu (b) Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit (c) Nellie Sengupta (d) Annie Besant
- Gandhi's first satyagraha in India was at (a) Champaran (b) Ahmedabad (c) Kheda (d) Bardoli
- Arrange in order: (1) Chauri Chaura (2) Jallianwala Bagh (3) Dandi March (4) Simon Commission boycott. (a) 2-1-4-3 (b) 1-2-3-4 (c) 2-4-1-3 (d) 4-2-1-3
- The Poona Pact (1932) was signed between Gandhi and (a) Jinnah (b) Irwin (c) Ambedkar (d) Ramsay MacDonald
- The Fundamental Rights resolution was passed at the Congress session of (a) Lahore (b) Tripuri (c) Haripura (d) Karachi
- The first satyagrahi of the individual satyagraha of 1940 was (a) Nehru (b) Patel (c) Vinoba Bhave (d) Rajagopalachari
- The Chittagong armoury raid was led by (a) Bhagat Singh (b) Khudiram Bose (c) Chandrashekhar Azad (d) Surya Sen
- The Provisional Government of Azad Hind was proclaimed in (a) Tokyo (b) Rangoon (c) Singapore (d) Berlin
- The Quit India resolution was passed in (a) 1940 (b) 1942 (c) 1945 (d) 1946
Answers:
- (b) Surat, 1907; the two groups reunited at Lucknow in 1916.
- (d) Annie Besant (1917); Sarojini Naidu was the first Indian woman president.
- (a) Champaran, 1917, over indigo cultivation.
- (a) Jallianwala 1919, Chauri Chaura 1922, Simon 1928, Dandi 1930.
- (c) It replaced separate electorates for depressed classes with reserved seats.
- (d) Karachi, 1931, under Patel.
- (c) Vinoba Bhave; Nehru was the second.
- (d) Surya Sen, in April 1930.
- (c) Singapore, 21 October 1943.
- (b) 8 August 1942, in Bombay.
Revise this
The background to 1885 is in modern India. For the armed forces that grew out of this period, see India's defence forces.
- I can separate moderates, extremists and the Gandhian phase by method and leaders.
- I can match twelve Congress sessions to place, president and significance.
- I can arrange twenty events from 1905 to 1947 in order.
- I can compare the three mass movements on trigger, method and ending.
- I can match revolutionary actions to people and years.
- I can tell the INA story from Mohan Singh to the Red Fort trials.
A note on dates and numbers. Exam patterns, vacancies and schedules change from year to year. Always confirm the current details in the latest notification on the Union Public Service Commission website .
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